Letter: ‘In God We Trust’ isn’t true at the Courthouse

I am sure you have readers who well remember the motto that for many years surmounted the entrance to the Morgan County Courthouse in Wartb

To the Editor:

I am sure you have readers who well remember the motto that for many years surmounted the entrance to the Morgan County Courthouse in Wartburg. It read, “It don’t pay to do wrong.” I had a strong feeling of respect for that warning, despite, or perhaps because of, its grammatical shortcomings. (One wouldn’t get nearly the same impact from the more grammatical, “Breaking the law can have grave consequences.”) The sign was removed some years ago, not I am sure because of disagreement with the sentiment, but because it was considered just a trifle too country for the comfort of Morgan County’s more sensitive citizens.

We now face much the same problem in Anderson County, i.e., the imminent installation of four signs of no detectable benefit, but of the same offensive provinciality as previously discussed. In desperation over the financial state of the country (I suppose), Congress some years ago put the statement “In G** we trust” on our money, where it remains to this day. (Actually, it was supposed to say, “In G** we trust; all others pay cash,” but there wasn’t room on the coins.) Recently some anti-sharia law organization sued to get rid of this mixing of state and religion, but was turned down by the courts, presumably because this statement is too bland and meaningless to constitute an establishment of religion. This decision has had mischievous effects, however, because it has emboldened religious enthusiasts to flaunt the G word in all sorts of public places, thinking it to be safe from “ACLU crap” if they just insulate it in the IGWT motto previously sanctified by the court.

In this connection, another court case should be mentioned. Last year, during the Super Bowl halftime festivities, one of the featured performers shouted the f word into the mike, which led the FCC to level an enormous fine on the sponsoring network. The network appealed in court, arguing (I guess) that that was the only word the fellow knew, and they had no idea he was going to use it. Well, reason prevailed, and the huge fine was largely abated. You see the problem, however. Like the G-word people, the f-word people will be emboldened, and think they can spread their expression of choice at large, unencumbered by “FCC crap,” as they refer to the previous censure.

One reason for objecting to IGWT spelled out on our courthouse is that what it says isn’t true. In county judicial proceedings we trust in laws, police officers, patrol cars, handcuffs, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, juries, etc. If we waited for supernatural justice, the county would be (even more) awash in crystal meth, and thieves and murderers would rule the land. I admit there may be justification for wanting to embarrass the county. Perhaps someone wants to give tour buses a reason to detour through Clinton, where they could circle the courthouse to permit flatland tourists to point and laugh. They might stop for lunch and buy Anderson County T-shirts with pictures of our poor festooned courthouse on them. If attracting tourists is really the motivation, let’s see if Wartburg still has their sign. They’d probably sell it cheap, and the buses would still detour, but in this case the message of the sign is defensible, and the f-word people couldn’t sue for equal space. Deal?